Ron Hart: Kim Jong Un trims family tree

The very public execution of Comrade Jang Song Thaek, the uncle of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, reminds us of the brutal nature of dynastic power and what totalitarian communist dictators do.

“Lil-Kim” Jong Un inherited his evil dictating business. Before he died in 2011, his dad, Kim Jong Il, bequeathed the job to his youngest son, passing over older brothers Kim Jung Tito and Kim Jung Jermaine.

Per the state-controlled news agency – MS-North Korea – Kim Jong Un had his uncle killed for “unwillingly standing up from his seat and half-heartedly clapping” when Kim Jong Un was being honored.

It came out later that Kim felt his Comrade Uncle Jang drank and womanized too much. In American politics, that gets you a plum Senate committee chairmanship; in North Korea it gets you shot – that’s the Dear Leader’s job.

Jang’s wife, the sister of Kim Jong Un’s dad, was spared and maintains her role in the Worker’s Party. Some say she green-lighted the execution, which is always quicker and more conclusive than a divorce.

Earlier this year, Lil' Kim received special envoy Dennis Rodman. Kim's advisers live in such fear that they could not bring themselves to tell Kim that Rodman was not President Obama. Shortly thereafter, Lil' Kim knocked up his girlfriend (I think her name is Kim Kardashi Un), which is not surprising since Kim had just spent a week hanging out with an NBA player.

Rodman, for his part, fits the pattern for Kim’s lineage, where the bizarre is the norm.

Kim did invite Rodman to return to North Korea – hopefully, for good – so Rodman can teach the state basketball team what he knows about winning: Pass the ball to Michael Jord Un.

You may recall that Bill Clinton went to North Korea in 2009. My guess is a city named “Pyongyang” sounded compelling to him. He did bring back two young women journalists. Imagine that.

North Korea has been under communist rule since the 1940s. There is little electricity, free health care (but no one can see a doctor or get medicine), and the government starves its people and tells them what they can eat. It is as if Obama had been running the country for 20 years.

Kim Jong Un will have his scientists killed if they cannot figure a way for him to take a bubble bath with his medals on his chest.

The West’s willingness to ignore the inhumanity in North Korea has served to embolden its despotic leader. South Korea does not want Kim removed from power, for fear of having to deal with an influx of 24 million North Korean refugees.

Tribalism and faux communist brotherhood keep China from doing anything, while the U.S. dances a delicate dance with China on human rights. It is like you know your landlord is beating his wife and kids, but you owe him so much back rent that you are afraid to say anything for fear he will start eviction proceedings.

The plight of the people of North Korea under command-and-control rule should be educational to anyone paying attention. Man will always want to control others by any means necessary. It can be done by a communist dictator or by religious fanatics, like in Iran. It can also be done slowly, via populist politicians who engage in class warfare and “give” people health care. In any event, it never ends well for a country.

Embarrassed by its dysfunctional communist economy, Kim said that his country has developed a smart phone. It turns out the phone was built in China and shipped to North Korea. In fact, when you ask the Siri a question, she turns you in to the police.

To further control the citizenry, there is no Internet in North Korea. Men actually have to go to strip clubs and buy drinks if they want to see a naked woman.

Those concerned about the regulators, czars, Obamacare and heavy-handed government measures need not worry. Jay Carney's North Korean counterpart said that there was a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea at which Uncle Jang was found guilty of crimes that day, and executed that afternoon. So, it sounds like he got a fair hearing.

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